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The Norwegian Alexander Steen Olsen celebrates his first World Cup victory in the USA. The Swiss get nothing.
The pedestal
- 1. Alexander Steen Olsen (NOR) 1:47.46 minutes
- 2. Timon Haugan (NOR) +0.05 seconds
- 3. Albert Popov (BUL) +0.24
- 3. Clément Noël (FRA) +0.24
After a long wait at the finish, it became official: The Greek AJ Ginnis – after all the drivers with the fastest time – was disqualified because of a merging shortly before the end of his journey. Thus, the 21-year-old Alexander Steen Olsen celebrated his first World Cup victory. With the triumph, the so often touted super talent has finally established itself at the top of the world.
The Norwegian, still 12th after the first heat, coped well with the difficult conditions in Palisades Tahoe and edged Albert Popov, who was leading at the time, by 24 hundredths off the lead. Behind Steen Olsen, his compatriot Timon Haugan surprisingly secured a Norwegian one-two.
In addition to the two Norwegians, the Bulgarian Albert Popov wrote the story of the day. On the course set by his trainer, he improved his running best by a total of 22 places to finish third. It’s the first World Cup podium in the career of the 25-year-old, who benefited from an early start number in Heat 2 in the Palisades Tahoe snowstorm, which was getting worse from rider to rider. Popov shared third place with Clément Noël, who lost 89 hundredths to the winner after leading at halftime in the second round.
The Swiss
- 6. Ramon Zenhauser +0.45 seconds
- 21. Loïc Meillard +1.25
- 24. Daniel Yule +1.52
- Not in the 2nd race: Luca Aerni (37th), Tanguy Nef (41st), Marc Rochat (DNF), Sandro Simonet (DNF), Fadri Janutin (DNF), Noel von Grünigen (DNF)
The Swiss did not succeed in taking revenge for the disappointment in the World Cup slalom. Because of costly mistakes in the final part, Ramon Zenhousen fell behind the eventual winner Alexander Steen Olsen (NOR) and finished sixth as the best Swiss. For a long time before, it had looked as if the Valais could take the lead. Loïc Meillard fared much worse in the second run. The half-time sixth did not cope well with the poor visibility and dropped 17 places.
Daniel Yule, who ended the race as the worst Swiss in the points, missed the best starting position. The Valais lost 23 places in the second half as second at half time. For the 30-year-old, the next setback followed after the World Cup.
Meanwhile, 6 of the 9 Swiss athletes who started did not qualify for the second round. Luca Aerni in 35th and Tanguy Nef in 38th built a lot of security into their runs and lost too much time in the tight field. The remaining drivers were already eliminated on the way to the finish.
Bitter disqualification for Ginnis
AJ Ginnis almost continued writing his Greek ski fairy tale. The climber of the season was disqualified after a minute-long discussion by the jury at the finish, after he had actually finished the race with the fastest time. So Ginnis, who achieved his first World Cup podium this season and won World Championship silver, still has to wait for his first win.
The further program
The World Cup convoy stays in the United States for another week. A speed weekend with two downhill runs and a Super-G is on the program in Aspen from March 3rd to 5th. The pure slalom specialists will meanwhile not compete again until the World Cup final in Andorra on March 19th.